You've built the business case. Excellent!
You've implemented accessibility improvements. Outstanding!
Now comes the question that every executive, stakeholder, and budget holder will ask: "Is it actually working?"
Well, is it?
This is where many accessibility programs stumble. Teams invest time and resources into making their digital properties more accessible, but struggle to demonstrate tangible results. Without clear metrics, accessibility remains an act of faith rather than a provable business strategy.
Let's change that. Now.
(This is Part 3 of our accessibility series. Catch up on Part 1: The ROI of Accessibility and Part 2: Implementation Strategies if you haven't already.)
Why Measurement Matters
As TPGi's Aaron Farber puts it: "Accessibility is a lot like security. If you're doing it right, nothing happens. But that doesn't mean the work isn't happening." Exactly right, Aaron.
Metrics serve three critical purposes:
Justification: Prove the value of accessibility efforts to secure continued investment and resources.
Accountability: Distribute responsibility across teams and evaluate performance objectively.
Direction: Identify what's working, what's not, and where to focus next.
Organizations that track accessibility KPIs can focus on what matters most and track progress over time, making overwhelming accessibility backlogs feel manageable through clear, achievable goals.
The Three-Category Framework
Effective accessibility measurement spans three interconnected areas. Think of them as layers that build on each other:
People Metrics: Does your team have the skills and knowledge to build accessible products?
Process Metrics: Are accessibility practices embedded in your workflows, or are they bolted on as afterthoughts?
Product Metrics: Are your digital products actually accessible and usable by people with disabilities?
Each category tells part of the story. Together, they provide a comprehensive view of your accessibility program's health. The key is choosing a few essential metrics from each category rather than trying to track everything at once.
The Essential Metrics to Start With
You don't need to measure everything. Here are the critical metrics that provide the most insight with the least overhead:
People Metric: Team Training Completion Rate
What to track: Percentage of team members across design, development, content, and QA who have completed foundational accessibility training.
Why it matters: Your team's knowledge is the leading indicator of accessibility success. If your people don't understand accessibility principles, no amount of tooling or processes will save you. Stark's research indicates that a well-trained team is essential for embedding accessibility into company culture.
How to measure: Track completion rates by role and department. Aim for 100% foundational training within 90 days of someone joining a product team.
Target: 80%+ completion rate across all product teams within your first year.
Process Metric: Accessibility Issues by Development Stage
What to track: When are you catching accessibility problems? In design, development, QA, or production?
Why it matters: I recommend tracking when issues are discovered because it reveals whether accessibility is truly integrated into your workflow or just being audited at the end. Organizations that integrate accessibility from the start spend approximately 67% less on compliance than those that retrofit after launch.
How to measure: Tag accessibility issues with the stage where they were discovered. Calculate the percentage caught at each phase.
Target: Within 12 months, 60%+ of accessibility issues should be caught in design or development, not in QA or production.
Process Metric: Time to Resolve Accessibility Issues
What to track: Average number of days from when an accessibility issue is identified to when it's fixed.
Why it matters: Faster resolution times indicate that teams understand accessibility and have efficient processes. Slower times may signal knowledge gaps, competing priorities, or unclear ownership.
How to measure: Track issue creation date and resolution date in your project management system. Calculate the average resolution time by severity level.
Target: Critical issues resolved within 1 sprint, moderate issues within 2 sprints.
Pro Tip: Treat an Accessibility bug the same as any other bug.
Product Metric: Substantial Conformance in Critical User Flows
What to track: Can users with disabilities complete your most important tasks (checkout, registration, core features) using assistive technology?
Why it matters: Substantial conformance is achieved by removing significant barriers within critical user flows. Think of major accessibility issues as an oak tree blocking a road. Just as you can't drive past a fallen tree, users can't navigate your product if critical barriers remain in essential paths.
How to measure: Identify your 3-5 most critical user flows. Test them with keyboard navigation and screen readers. Track the percentage of flows that can be completed without encountering blocking issues.
Target: 100% of critical user flows should have substantial conformance within 6 months.
Pro Tip: Your audience has loyal support systems. If you lose a user who is seeking an accessible option, expect them to tell others about their experience.
Product Metric: Task Completion Rate for Users with Disabilities
What to track: Can users with disabilities actually complete core tasks in your product?
Why it matters: Measuring whether users with disabilities can complete core tasks provides direct insight into real-world usability. This metric goes beyond technical compliance to measure actual user experience. A technically compliant site that's unusable in practice isn't truly accessible.
How to measure: Conduct usability testing with people who use assistive technologies. Track what percentage successfully complete defined tasks without assistance.
Target: 80%+ task completion rate for users with disabilities, matching or approaching your overall user completion rate.
Pro Tip: A more accessible experience = a more usable experience.
Product Metric: Automated Scan Results Over Time
What to track: Number of automatically detectable accessibility issues across your digital properties.
Why it matters: While automated tools only catch about 30% of accessibility issues, they provide a consistent baseline for measuring progress. WebAIM data shows that 22.1% of all images on website homepages don't have alt text, and low contrast text appears on 83.9% of homepages tested. These common issues are easily tracked over time.
How to measure: Use tools to run regular scans. Track total issues and issues by severity over time.
Target: 50% reduction in automated scan issues within 6 months, 80% reduction within 12 months.
Pro Tip: If you don't know what tools to use, reach out to me for a list of free and paid for tools!
Choosing Metrics for Your Audience
Your accessibility metrics should align with your audience and their concerns. Not everyone needs to see the same dashboard.
For Your Team (Developers, Designers, QA):
- Time to correct accessibility defects
- Percentage of work passing accessibility checks on first review
- Number of accessibility issues by team or sprint
For Product Managers:
- Substantial conformance in critical user flows
- Task completion rates
- Feature accessibility status at launch
For Executives:
- Overall accessibility posture across properties
- Legal risk reduction metrics
- Market reach expansion
- Connection to revenue and customer satisfaction
Tailor your reporting to what each audience cares about and can act on.
Start Simple, Then Expand
The biggest mistake organizations make with accessibility metrics? Trying to track everything from day one.
Start with these three metrics in month one:
- Team training completion rate (people)
- Automated scan results (product)
- Time to resolve critical issues (process)
These give you visibility across all three categories without overwhelming your team. Once you have consistent tracking for 2-3 months, add the more sophisticated metrics like task completion rates and substantial conformance.
What Success Looks Like
Don't expect perfection immediately. Set achievable milestones that build momentum:
3 months:
- Baseline established for all tracked metrics
- 50% of team completed accessibility training
- 30% reduction in automated scan issues
6 months:
- 80% of team completed training
- Critical user flows achieving substantial conformance
- 60% of new issues caught in design/development vs. production
12 months:
- Time to resolve issues cut in half
- 80%+ task completion rate for users with disabilities
- Accessibility embedded as standard quality requirement
The Bottom Line
The metrics that matter most depend on your organizational goals. If you're primarily concerned with regulatory compliance, focus on WCAG conformance and risk reduction. If you're pursuing market expansion, emphasize user satisfaction and task completion.
But regardless of your goals, start measuring something. Even imperfect metrics tracked consistently are better than perfect metrics that never get implemented.
As TPGi's Mark Miller notes, the most mature accessibility programs don't just measure once—they build continuous measurement into their workflows, tracking progress as naturally as they track bug counts or feature velocity.
What metrics are you currently tracking—or wish you were tracking? Share your approach in the comments. I'm always curious to learn what's working (or not working) in the real world.
Let's get out there and make it real!
Organizations Cited:
- TPGi (@paciellogroup)
- Fable (@makeitfable)
- Stark (@getstark)
- WebAIM (@webaim)
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